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Too young, too pretty, too successful - Salon.com

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First, the facts: In its 2001 “Summer Fiction Issue” the New Yorker printed four stories by “debut writers,” a title defined by the magazine as “young writers who have not yet published a book.” Among the four was Nell Freudenberger, then age 26; her contributor’s note mentioned both that she was an editorial assistant at the New Yorker and that her piece, which was called “Lucky Girls,” was her first published story. Author photos accompanied all the debut stories, and the three other writers had been photographed at, respectively, a park, a restaurant and a marina. Freudenberger had been photographed in her apartment, shot from above while sitting on what appeared to be a shiny, velvety mauve and silver bedspread. She had pale skin and shoulder-length dark hair; she wore a serious expression; it would be overstating it, but not by much, to say that you could see down her shirt. On the June day the magazine appeared in my mailbox, I set aside what I was doing, which was, if I remember

Too young, too pretty, too successful Hating Nell Freudenberger -- the 28-year-old writer celebrated in Vogue and Elle -- is a virtual cottage industry among ambitious literati. And I was ready to hate her too -- until I read her book. By Curtis Sittenfeld Published September 4, 2003 7:00PM (EDT) Facebook X Reddit Email Save First, the facts: In its 2001 “Summer Fiction Issue” the New Yorker printed four stories by “debut writers,” a title defined by the magazine as “young writers who have not yet published a book.” Among the four was Nell Freudenberger, then age 26; her contributor’s note men

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